Monthly Archives: March 2012

The in basket: I was heading east on Fourth Street approaching
Warren Avenue in Bremerton when looking ahead I noticed that the
upcoming intersection at Park Avenue, where the new theaters are
being built, had a lot of work going on.

I drove down there and found what looked like a new roundabout
under construction. There was a roundabout-style sign posted in the
intersection, directing drivers around the center of the
intersection.

I’m a big fan of roundabouts but I know not everyone is. It
seemed like this one has been flying under the radar.

The out basket: It may look like one now, but it won’t be a
roundabout when completed, says Brian Fyall, a consultant with the
city on the development in that area. It will be a flat granite
feature depicting an anchor and four points of the compass. Traffic
will pass over it in a traditional intersection alignment.

“The roundabout style sign is a temporary measure,” he said.
“The contractor needs to pour a a concrete subbase for the granite
accent,” so the middle of the intersection is off-limits for
now.

The in basket: Jo Clark wrote to say, ” Nearly every time I
travel through the stop light on Marine Drive/Kitsap Way I see the
blue light come on the back of the signal to indicate someone not
getting through the intersection before the light changes to
red. I am wondering if we are paying some company to be
allowed to use these, because it has been years since I’ve seen a
police car watching for culprits.

“With budget cuts everywhere I can understand that perhaps the
police can’t patrol these lights,” Jo said, “but if we are paying
for them to operate regardless, I have to wonder how much it might
save to cancel the contracts.

“I never see any police cars monitoring them any more,” she
said. “I have in the past. And if we don’t have enough police
to monitor them, are we wasting money to maintain this ‘trap’?

The out basket: The lights don’t necessarily indicate that
someone has run a red light, only that the light has changed to
red. The lights allow an officer viewing an intersection from the
side to know when the light he can’t see the front of becomes red,
and he then can decide if someone blows it.

Lt. Pete Fisher of Bremerton police says, “The lights are a
great tool for officers when they observe a red light violation
from a different direction than the violator. It provides
solid visual evidence that a violation occurred, when they cannot
testify to the fact that they saw the violator’s light turn
red.

Jeff Collins of the city signal shop says, “As far as I know,
all the blue lights are still in operation and still used by the
police department.

“They were installed by city personnel and maintained by city
staff. The lights are LED so the only maintenance would be a
failure or cleaning on our annual lamp change and cleaning
cycle.”

The in basket: I came across a nearly five-year old inquiry in
my e-mail queue from Hal Johnson about what a driver can do when
following a bicyclist.

“I live on Bainbridge Island,” he said, “where there has been a
large increase in bicycle traffic (and the increase will continue
with the increasing density in Winslow.)
“Many of the roads on Bainbridge do not have bike lanes or
shoulders wide enough for cars to pass bicycle traffic; also an
increasing number of bicyclers are asserting their right to travel
in the traffic lane and not leaving enough room for cars to pass
and stay within the lane.

“Most of these roads have double center lanes,” Hal said,
“prohibiting cars from using the adjacent, opposite lane for
passing vehicles. The result is often following the bicycles at
4-12 miles per hour for long distances, with the auto driver
frustrated and biker feeling pressured.

“The double center line prohibits passing because of short
visibility. Is it legal to cross the double center lane to pass a
bicycle?”

The out basket: State Trooper Russell Winger, spokesman for the
State Patrol here, says, “The answer is no, you cannot legally
cross over a double yellow centerline to pass a bike that is
legally traveling on the roadway. The bike rider has every right to
use the lane and CAN USE the shoulder but is not required to by
law.

“However, if a bike rider(s) are traveling at speeds slower than
other traffic, and at least five vehicles are prevented from
maintaining normal flow and speed behind the bike rider, this is an
impeding violation. Bike riders traveling on roadways are subject
to the same traffic laws and rules as motor vehicles.

“Bike riders, as well as motorists, need to be aware of
surrounding traffic and be prepared to move to a position that
allows traffic to legally and safely pass,” Russell said.

Since Hal’s question focused on Bainbridge Island, I tried to
find out if the island police department had anything to add, but
they didn’t respond.

The in basket: There it was, quietly tucked within the story
about plans for the planned Bucklin Hill Road bridge in the March
22 issue of the Kitsap Sun.

“A traffic signal to be installed next year at the closest
offramp on Waaga Way should increase traffic flows for vehicles
taking Waaga Way as a detour around the construction site,” it
said.

Could it be, I wondered, will the state finally install a signal
at the southbound off-ramp of Waaga Way, a.k.a. Highway 303, at
Ridgetop Boulevard?

Reader requests for such a signal have really been too numerous
to mention over the years, but the most I’d been able to learn is
the county and state were talking about it. Left turns onto
Ridgetop are notoriously hard to make at busy times due to the
heavy traffic.

I asked if the signal was finally on its way.

The out basket: Tina Nelson, senior program manager for the
county, says yes, that is the plan, and the county has taken over
management of the signal project. It’s included in the county’s
six-year road plan, known as the TIP.

I can’t feel too bad about not spotting it, as it’s listed on
the plan as simply “intersection improvements.”

Tina goes on to say, “A recent decision/agreement was made where
the county will manage the project. Funding will come from the
state Department of Transportation ($140,000), Harrison Hospital
($225,000), and the county road fund (the balance, which is
currently estimated at $160,000).

“The TIP shows the project as being constructed in 2014, but we
are going to try and get it constructed in 2013, before the Bucklin
Hill bridge,” she said.

The in basket: Fred Allman wrote in an e-mail a year ago in
January saying he’d recently retired from PSNS, to and from which
he’d ridden a bicycle via Summit Avenue in Bremerton.

“About half-way down the hill, the road turns from asphalt to
cement,” he said. “I’m told that this is the division between
Bremerton city limits and Kitsap County roads. “Unfortunately the
asphalt side has always been in need of repair,” he said. “Now
there is a large chuck hole that has developed in the middle of the
downhill lane.

“During my riding of the bike, I always steered clear of the bad
spot in the road. My wife continues to ride her bike into the
shipyard daily. If she or some other rider were not paying
attention and were to hit this chuck hole they could have a major
accident.”

Fred said at that time the county and city were both telling him
it was the other’s problem.

This month I asked if there’d been any improvement and he said
the chuck hole had been repaired but the pavement was still very
rough.

I drove the area and found most of Summit Avenue on the county
side to be in good condition but the spot Fred describes is very
rough and has a slightly raised manhole to boot.

I asked the county if it was their area and if any plans have
been made to improve it.

The out basket: Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works, says
“This area is scheduled for repair during the paving season. I
would expect to see the repairs in May or June.”

The in basket: Port Orchard public works crews closed a lane of
Highway 166 downhill from the state’s roundabout for a couple of
days the last few days of summer in what looked like an attempt to
deal with water that seems to run out of the ditch onto the
pavement.

They dug the ditch deeper, but to no avail. The water seems to
wick upward onto the shoulder and run out onto the
pavement.

I asked about it.

The out basket: “Yes, the city is trying to provide a conveyance
for runoff,” said Public Works Director Mark Dorsey, “but the soil
conditions are miserable. This was and/or is a great location for
the use of an under-drain system. Unfortunately, (the state) did
not design/build the road that way….and I suspect there is no
ambition to retrofit at this point, therefore we’re stuck with the
applicable maintenance.” The highway was built decades ago.

Though Port Orchard headed off in the Legislature a state
attempt to turn all of Highway 166 within the city limits over to
the city to maintain – pavement, signals, signs and all – it was
and remains responsible for the shoulders.

The in basket: Matt Potter asks, “How do you handle a situation
where you’re the only person at a traffic light and it seems not to
want to turn green for you?”

The out basket: I told John what I would do, then asked State
Trooper Russell Winger what he would recommend.

I said, “1. Make sure you are over the sensor wires just behind
the crosswalk or stop bar.

“2. If so, make a right turn, if possible, and proceed to where
you can safely make a U-turn (they are legal if done safely).

“3. Go back to the intersection and turn right to proceed.

“If it’s a left turn you originally wanted to make but couldn’t
get a green light, I see no option but to make sure no traffic will
be imperiled and run it. But you’d better wait at least two minutes
first. Very few traffic signals are timed to require a wait longer
than that, least of all when traffic is so light you are the only
vehicle waiting.

“4. Call 9-1-1 to report a possible malfunctioning signal.”

Trooper Winger had this to say:

“I suggest that a driver, back up (only if no vehicles are
behind them, of course) and attempt to trip the light.

“Failing that, wait long enough for other traffic to trip the
light. Your suggestion to make a right turn, if possible, is also a
possibility.

“If you drive long enough, most drivers will be faced with this
occurrence at some time or another (even police officers). Usually
the light will eventually cycle.

“However, if the light appears to be in total failure for all
drivers, the intersection becomes a four-way stop intersection and
non-regulated rules apply.” That means take turns and a car on the
right of another has the right of way.

“We sometimes get calls from drivers when they have had such a
problem,” Russell said. “Most instances, but not all, the signals
are working correctly when we or DOT responds to investigate.

“I would suggest a driver enter an intersection on red ONLY
after taking the responses suggested and getting no positive result
after several minutes and cycles. Then, after yielding to any
traffic with right of way, (you can) proceed through the
intersection.”

The in basket: Asplundh Tree Experts have been conspicuously
busy along Mile Hill Drive in South Kitsap the past few weeks. They
began, it appeared, on Baby Doll Road a few feet off of Mile Hill
Drive where they spent at least two days removing branches if not
entire trees.

They definitely appeared to be taking down entire trees next to
the Abbey Lane apartments just downhill from Harrison Avenue and
then went into full tree removal mode just downhill from Jackson
Avenue the first week of this month.

You often see Asplundh crews limbing trees as part of Puget
Sound Energy’s ongoing vegetation management program to prevent
weather-caused power outages. But this was clearly a lot more than
than.

The out basket: Indeed it is, says Lindsey Walimaki of PSE. It’s
the middle part of a $9 million transmission line-substation
upgrade to help curtail power outages in the Manchester area. The
substations on Mitchell Avenue and Woods Road have been improved
and now work has begun on a new four-mile transmission line that
will cost $4 million of the total.

It will run along Mitchell Avenue, Mile Hill Drive, Baby Doll
Road, Collins Road and end at the substation just east of Collins
on Woods.

Many of the small power poles that now carry distribution lines
along that route will be replaced by taller ones that will carry
the new transmission lines as well as the

distribution lines. The tree work will continue into April, and
the new wires should be strung and in service by June, Lindsey
said.

It all includes upgrades at the Long Lake substation too, with
that work scheduled from April to July with transmission line work
there in July.

Unfortunately for wood gatherers, the wood isn’t available to
the public, she said, though private property owners can keep that
which is left on their land if they wish. Perhaps a person could
make a deal with the property owner. The rest is hauled away.

You can read a lot more about the project and five other ones
PSE has under way or about to start in Kitsap County at its
Web site, www.pse.com/ Click on kitsap at the bottom then
Construction Projects in the box on the left of the window.

Most don’t involved a lot of tree work, but there is a pilot
project in the Wildcat Lake area of Central Kitsap, and along
Seabeck Highway south of Holly Road.

That area is hard hit by power outages, Lindsey said. So the
company will experiment will taking limbs above power lines that
might fall on them in a windstorm, rather than it’s usual practice
of just removing limbs that have grown within reach of the
wires.

Three of the other projects described on the Web site are on
Bainbridge Island and the sixth is at a substation between
Bremerton and Gorst.

The in basket: As a South Kitsap school bus turned right while I
sat at the Woods Road stop signal on Mile Hill Drive, I noticed a
large white X on a black background on its side.

I’d never noticed it before and it seemed vaguely ominous. I
subsequently saw other letters of the same kind on other SK buses,
and one in Bremerton.

I asked their meaning.

The out basket: Here’s another measure of how far removed from
my school days I am at age 68. Jay Rosepepe, transportation
director for SK schools, said letters have been on the sides of
their buses for about four years, supplementing the numbers that
differentiated the buses when I was in school.

They are magnetic and can be moved from bus to bus. It
eliminates confusion among the students when a bus has to be pulled
out of regular service for maintenance or to carry students out of
district, such as for athletics.

Something like it began 15 years ago in the district, when
cardboard placards that serve the same purpose were displayed in
the bus window or windshield. They got the idea for the magnetized
metal ones from Bremerton School District, he said.

They’re used only on the district’s 48 large buses. They already
need two letters on about half the buses to avoid duplication, and
adding the smaller buses would require three-letter sets. Besides,
the close relationship between the drivers and the often-disabled
youngsters who ride the small buses reduces possible confusion by
itself.

They still use bus numbers, but that’s usually for
administrative purposes or in radio communications with the
vehicles, he said.

The in basket: Frank Torres asks in an e-mail, “What’s the
purpose of passenger side view mirrors showing vehicles farther
away than what they really are? Sounds kind of dumb to me,”

The out basket: I Googled the subject to see if my belief that
it widens the field of view and reduces the driver’s blind spot was
accurate. The results weren’t as quick and helpful as they usually
are on Google, but I finally found what seems like confirmation on
a site for SmartMotorist.com.

It said, “Federal standards require that a vehicle’s rear-view
mirror provide the driver with a certain field of view. To meet the
requirement, manufacturers often use a convex mirror on the
passenger side. It gives a broader view where most vehicles create
an area of reduced visibility, frequently called the blind
spot.”

I’ll take that as a yes.

State Trooper Russell Winger confirmed it, too, and added
something I didn’t know. “Interesting to note,” he said, “that a
passenger side mirror is not required when a vehicle is equipped
with an inside rear-view mirror.” It’s only required when the
vehicle has after-market tinting on any of its windows OR does not
have an inside rear-view mirror. “The left mirror is always
required, of course,” he said.